On Monday, we introduced stories 13 through 7 of Silicon Prairie News’ most read stories of 2013. Now we bring you the articles that made our top six most popular stories, including our top story of the year:
6. ClusterFlunk founders take “leap of faith,” leave school to build company
May 31 (Iowa City, Iowa): Six months after their company’s launch, ClusterFlunk co-founders Joe Dallago and AJ Nelson chose to stop attending the University of Iowa and focus full time on building their business.
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Why it made our top stories: Since they launched, ClusterFlunk and its founders have amassed a cult following of sorts at the University of Iowa. It also doesn’t hurt that some big names—like Dwolla’s Ben Milne—believe in what they’re doing. And, last but not least, the name. The name.
The latest: As of mid-December, ClusterFlunk’s user base at the U of Iowa had surpassed 10,000 students—roughly 46 percent of the university’s undergraduate population. Its founders also released a complete list of the more than 50 universities where students will be “flunking” in 2014 as the startup scales nationally.
5. eCreamery’s “swimming with orders” since “Shark Tank” appearance
May 6 (Omaha): After appearing on ABC’s “Shark Tank” in Sept. 2012, Omaha ice cream shop eCreamery saw its sales soar. Prior to their appearances on the reality show, it took eCreamery five years to make $2 million in sales. But in just the three months after its founders appeared on the show again in early 2013, eCreamery did more than $500,000 in sales.
Why it made our top stories: “People like ice cream,” said co-founder Becky App. “It’s a universal language. And turning ice cream into a successful e-commerce gifting business is novel and unexpected… It’s really not that easy to ship, but makes it fun and exciting when ice cream arrives at your doorstep. It’s different than flowers.”
The latest: The holidays brought a rush of orders for eCreamery, but with the opening of another production facility in a small specialty food shop in Richmond, Va., they’ve been able to fulfill more orders from the East Coast. They’ve also been featured everywhere from the Kardashian’s freezer during an episode of the reality show, to the ESPN holiday gift guide and maybe even on Good Morning America soon, App said.
4. Two friends lay out plans for Maker Village in Kansas City
May 6 (Kansas City): Friends Nick Ward-Bopp and Sam Green wanted more from their professional lives, so they decided to create a Maker Village. Part of a larger initiative, The Jarboe Initiative, the creation of the village was the start of a larger mission to lower the barrier of entry for local Kansas City makers. The friends hoped to purchase and renovate a building to use as a workshop for woodworkers and metal workers. In May, the organizers of Maker Village had raised $40,000 for the project.
Why it made our top stories: The concept of a Maker Village is just plain cool. And two guys building something that they’re passionate about? Even cooler. Add in the desire to bring entrepreneurs, engineers and designers together in a revitalized building in urban Kansas City, and you’ve got yourself a top story.
The latest: Now Ward-Bopp says the pair has just purchased a commercial building—located on 31st Street and Cherry Street in Kansas City’s north Hyde Park neighborhood—to house their vision. “It’s kind of a perfect area for us,” Ward-Bopp said. “We fit right in with our neighbors.” The new building is flanked by a letterpress studio named La Cucaracha Press and 816 Bicycle Collective. Ward-Bopp says the pair hopes to begin holding workshops in late 2014 and have the Maker Village fully up and running by 2015. Much of the next year will be devoted to working on the building, developing programming and planning out logistics like safety regulations for the Maker Village, he said.
3. Archrival founders, investors buy back company from Dachis Group
June 3 (Lincoln): In 2010, Dachis Group, an Austin startup, acquired one of Nebraksa’s most well-known branding agencies. In June, Archrival‘s founders and investors bought the 16-year-old company back from Dachis for an undisclosed amount. The reason for the move? Dachis wants to evolve its offering in social analytics software and data-driven marketing. Archrival wants to focus on what it does best: youth marketing.
Why it made our top stories: Archrival is a fun company with a strong support base in its hometown of Lincoln. The branding agency has a close following and has become known for fun social branding exercises like this seasonsal signage around Nebraska’s capital city.
The latest: More recently, the youth branding agency teamed up with Red Bull for #THESHOW, a social digital project that allows Instagram users to turn their snaps into customized documentary videos.
2. Brad Feld buys KC house with Google Fiber, opens contest to live in it
February 13 (Kansas City): Spurred by the installation of Google Fiber in the Kansas City, Kan., neighborhood of Hanover Heights, serial entrepreneur and investor Brad Feld purchased a three-bedroom house in the KC Startup Village and launched a competition to hook up a startup tenant with free rent.
Why it made our top stories: The exciting possibility of Google Fiber makes an important dude—who lives 600 miles away—buy an entire freaking house. For somebody else to use. Just for the Internet. It’s 944-square-feet, valued at $103,210 and built in 1936, according to the Wyandotte County Assessor’s site. He gave it away rent-free after a contest. Need we say more?
Alexa Nguyen, co-founder of Handprint—the startup that won the contest—said it was huge for Feld, who she called a “startup godfather,” to come into KC and invest in the community. “He put his money where his mouth is on community building.”
The latest: In April, Handprint, a 3D printing startup, won Feld’s contest and relocated from Boston to move into the Fiberhouse. Last month the team’s live-work house was featured in Startup Spaces, an SPN series—in partnership with turnstone—that showcases company’s unique office spaces. They recently finished a private beta and have been applying to accelerators for when they move out of the house in April. A public beta will launch around the same time.
1. Dwolla raises $16.5M round led by Andreessen Horowitz, adds SF office
April 30 (Des Moines): Earlier this year Des Moines-based Dwolla announced it closed a $16.5 million Series C round led by Andreessen Horowitz, a California-based venture capital firm whose portfolio includes the likes of Airbnb, Pinterest and Stripe. This new funding gave the four-year-old startup the ability to hire additional team members and open an office in San Francisco.
Why it was our top story of the year: Last year it was Ashton, this year it’s a16z. Dwolla has quickly become one of the region’s most well-known startups—with press coverage ranging from the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times to Inc. magazine—and they scored big with this multi-million-dollar round.
The latest: In October, the online payments startup launched the beta version of Dwolla Credit, which allows users to make purchases instantly without worrying about available funds in their account or use of a credit card.
Credits: Article screenshots from SiliconPrairieNews.com.
